Best of British for Mercury Prize

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More mature: Lily Allen

Sound of suburbia: cowbells and dreamy synths from St Albans’ Friendly Fires

Colourful approach: Bat for Lashes

Scottish and proud: Paolo Nutini

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It's kind of like a crazy contest between an orange and a spaceship and a potted plant and a spoon — which one do you like better?” So Antony Hegarty summed up the automatic argument-provoker that is the Mercury Prize, when his album I Am a Bird Now picked up the £20,000 cheque in 2005. The award pits big-selling rock bands against jazz obscurities and anonymous studio wizards against pop divas, in a shortlist of what a fluctuating cabal of music industry insiders deems to be the 12 best British or Irish albums of the past year.

This year's diverse dozen will be revealed later this month, picked from music released since July last year. An overall winner will be named at a ceremony in September, and while some bands might be praying they don't win for fear they'll never write a worthwhile note again (Klaxons, victors in 2007, are reportedly struggling with a follow-up album) others will be thrilled just to make the final 12. A shortlist place guarantees a huge sales boost to smaller acts, while for those who are already popular it lends a sheen of artistic credibility offered by no other award. Its allure for musicians across the board is shown by the fact that this year there were more entries than ever.

Last year's winner, Elbow's The Seldom Seen Kid, was widely considered the right choice for once but the judges are unlikely to play it so safe again. Maybe this is the year folk obscurity takes home the big money.

In the spirit of the prize, judging by artistic merit alone, here are my 12 best British albums of the past year. The real list will contain more freeform jazz than mine but that's my taste. That's what makes the Mercury so fascinating and frustrating — one man's spaceship is another's potted plant.

LILY ALLEN
It's Not Me, It's You (Parlophone)
Lily's difficult second album could have been a disaster if the loudmouth of tabloid notoriety had drowned out the smart girl with an ear for a great tune. Thankfully she does everything that is required. She grows up, singing of the perils of fame and drugs on The Fear and Everyone's At It, both times managing to make a more complex point than “They're bad”. She sings break-up ballads loaded with twinkly synths but also a rollicking hoedown about male sexual inadequacy. It's mature pop with a cheeky wink and a swearword or two — and brilliant fun throughout.
SEE HER LIVE: Saturday July 11, Somerset House, WC2 (0844 847 2461).
www.somersethouse.org.uk/music.
27/28 Nov, 15 Dec, Brixton Academy, SW9 (0844 477 2000).
www.o2academybrixton.co.uk
 
SPEECH DEBELLE
Speech Therapy (Big Dada)
South Londoner Debelle's mellow debut has the perfect Mercury pedigree, operating in a genre, hip hop, that doesn't automatically appeal to all but with the qualities to impress anyone given the pedestal that the prize offers. She's softly spoken, the opposite of boastful, baring her heart about a tough upbringing without ever glamorising. A jazzy, acoustic backdrop incorporates strings, oboe, trumpet, guitar and double bass, a classy setting for words wise beyond her 26 years.

BAT FOR LASHES
Two Suns (EMI)
Brighton solo artist Natasha Khan was the favourite for the Mercury when Klaxons won in 2007, so she deserves serious consideration again for a follow-up that expands her sound. She still features tribal beats and fantastical lyrics, singing of “A thousand crystal towers, a hundred emerald cities” on Glass but has broadened the instrumentation to include throbbing synths on Daniel and rhythmic xylophone on Two Planets. She even unearths the ultimate cult artist, Scott Walker, for a rare duet.
SEE HER LIVE: 16 July, Somerset House, WC2 (0844 847 2461).
www.somersethouse.org.uk/music. 19 July, iTunes Festival, Roundhouse, NW1. www.ituneslive.co.uk
5/6 Oct, Roundhouse, NW1 (0870 389 1846). www.roundhouse.org.uk
 
DOVES
Kingdom Of Rust
(Heavenly)
This is likely to be an early favourite for its similarities to Elbow's 2008 scenario — much-loved, long-running northerners release career-best album — but that would be too obvious. These Manchester schoolfriends are hardly underdogs, with two previous number one albums, but they have mastered the art of sounding gloomy and ecstatic at once. Jimi Goodwin's careworn voice sounds fabulous on the spaghetti western groove of the title track, one of the songs of
the year.
SEE THEM LIVE: 19 July, Lovebox Weekender, Victoria Park, E9 (0870 534 4444). www.lovebox.net

FLORENCE & THE MACHINE
Lungs (Island)
Florence Welch's extravagant debut is shaping up to take the number one spot this Sunday, and she's already won one prize this year — the Critics' Choice Brit for a star in waiting. She deserves the accolades for an extraordinary voice that even manages to overpower a gospel choir on recent single Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up). Her fondness for harp, piano and mighty drums gives her a unique sound that sets her apart from the current onslaught of female solo artists, plus she has the truly bonkers air of a real star.
SEE HER LIVE: 18 July, Lovebox Weekender, Victoria Park (0870 534 4444). www.lovebox.net. 27-29 Sept, Shepherd's Bush Empire, W12 (0844 477 2000). www.o2shepherds bushempire.co.uk

FRIENDLY FIRES
Friendly Fires (XL)
Not much of interest is known about this trio of St Albans schoolfriends but once again dull suburbia has been responsible for some superb music. Their debut is a fizzing collection of indie disco that might pin them down as this year's Klaxons but with better songs. Despite only spending one week at number 38 last autumn, it has quietly gone gold, perhaps thanks to their song Paris, a triumph of clattering cowbells, dreamy synths and inspiring lyrics about big plans. Its delirious whoosh of a chorus deserves to be a bigger hit than it was.
SEE THEM LIVE: 15 July, iTunes Festival, Roundhouse, NW1. www.ituneslive.co.uk. 18 July, Lovebox Weekender, Victoria Park (0870 534 4444). lovebox.net
 
GLASVEGAS
Glasvegas (Columbia)
This black-clad Glasgow quartet had to come up with a truly special debut to drown out a torrent of hype last year, most notably from noisiest cheerleader Alan McGee. As the Man Who Discovered Oasis (TM), he knows a thing or two about the kind of anthems that make tough men indulge in beer-spilling bear hugs, and Glasvegas have those anthems in excess. Songs about absent fathers, street stabbings and angelic social workers, drenched in a wall of sound guitars, have the kind of euphoric choruses that demand to be bellowed with your arm around a sweaty mate.
SEE THEM LIVE: 15 Aug, supporting U2 at Wembley Stadium (0844 980 8001). www.wembleystadium.com

NOAH AND THE WHALE
Peaceful the World Lays Me Down (Universal)
A cutesy folk charmer, this Twickenham quartet's debut features vocal contributions from one of last year's Mercury nominees, Laura Marling. They're best known for the whistling pop of 5 Years Time, which appeared on an advert and became a top 10 hit but there's much more to recommend them, from the sweet fiddle of Rocks and Daggers to the vibrant horns of Shape of My Heart, all topped by Charlie Fink's warm, homely voice.
SEE THEM LIVE: 19 July, Lovebox Weekender, Victoria Park (0870 534 4444). www.lovebox.net. 4 Sept, ICA, SW1 (020 7930 3647). www.ica.org.uk
 
PAOLO NUTINI
Sunny Side Up (Atlantic)
The male singer-songwriter has had bad press of late thanks to the blandness of Jameses Blunt and Morrison but Nutini masters everything from reggae to powerful soul on a second album that leaves behind his previously unremarkable sound. The Scot also does Celtic folk on Growing Up Beside You and Chamber Music, and a delightfully odd ukelele and flute combo that sounds like Jimmy Cliff on High Hopes. Coming from Jade Goody's favourite singer, it's even more wonderful for being so unexpected.
SEE HIM LIVE: Tonight, iTunes Festival, Roundhouse, NW1. www.ituneslive.co.uk. 30 Sept, Apollo Hammersmith, W6 (0870 400 0700). www.hammersmithapollo.net
 
JACK PENATE
Everything Is New (XL)
Another welcome career reinvention, Londoner Peñate went from making irritating rockabilly to dancefloor-friendly synthpop on this second album. There are echoing African hi-life guitars, moody electronics and the singer's emotional vocals, all weaving around some fabulously uplifting tunes. His falsetto on Let's All Die unfortunately manages to recall Justin Hawkins of The Darkness but elsewhere he's found an enormously appealing new side to himself.  
 
ROOTS MANUVA
Slime and Reason (Big Dada)
Sheffield-based rapper and past Mercury nominee Rodney Smith worked with cutting-edge names such as Toddla T and Metronomy to make his most enjoyable collection to date. In the past he's been trapped by his own depression into making overpoweringly bleak music. Here he rediscovers his sense of fun in many places, charming the girls over rubbery dancehall beats on Buff Nuff and rhyming in his rich growl above electronic clanks on Do Nah Bodda Mi. The darkness is still there but it's tempered by a welcome light.
 
JAMES YORKSTON
When the Haar Rolls in (Domino)
The Mercury judges usually acknowledge folk, so it's surprising that Yorkston, cornerstone of Fife's busy Fence Collective, has been ignored to date. He may be on a hip label but sings over traditional instrumentation in a voice that sounds centuries old. His fourth album isn't vastly different from its consistently high-quality predecessors but seems better all the same, as if he is slowly attaining a mastery of this ancient music. His band constructs a warm, enveloping, understated backdrop on this quietly beautiful treasure.
SEE him LIVE: 1 Aug, Field Day Festival, Victoria Park (0844 477 2000). www.fielddayfestivals.com  

 

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